Balance of Power
by TheRedhood908
Summary: Maven Black Briar is a very dominant personality. Everyone bows to her demands. But what if she found herself out of her depth and most of all in a situation where she cannot be in control?


She loved this feeling, the feeling of contented aloneness. Of being able to fully relax without worrying about the next big issue. She lay in the warm tub, her silky black Raven hair splayed over the back of the tub and her shoulders before the gentle locks trickle down into the soapy water.

She let out a sigh of contentment. Yes, Maven Black Briar was happy. Well...happy for her. After all she was too goal oriented to ever be truly happy unless gold and influence were in here reach. Yet...what more could she want? She was the Jarl of Riften and was more than comfortable in her seat of power. Who would dare threaten her now? The thieves guild was stronger than ever and despite the rumours she had heard of a setback in Falkreath the dark brotherhood was at her Beck and call, for the right price in both of these cases of course. She was more than happy to pay. What could be gained without sacrifice after all? Especially these days.

Maven Black Briar was not happy. Nor was she content. She was….biding her time. Jarl would never be enough. No. High queen? That was something to set her eyes on. If only Elisif were to have an accident...she thinks to herself smiling devilishly before she feels hands gently move onto her shoulders .

She would be worried if she hadn't known who it was already. "Hmmmf, I was wondering when you would be back" she said lazily , her eyes closing as the strong digits began to work into her shoulders. The stranger says nothing, but his smile is easily seen under the hood along with his brown eyes and black tufts of hair, as dark as Maven's. "Fine, don't say anything. I'm rather enjoying myself and I would hate for you to ruin it with your incessant boasting" she says simply, increasing moaning as the hands reach a certain spot on her shoulder blades and dig in, bringing a hiss of delight forth from her lips. "Well…." he begins smiling as he leans into the woman's ear, pushing his head back to reveal his identity. "I do have a right to boast my Jarl. After all it is me, Fjolar the Dragonborn, who defeated Ulfric and put you in Laila's throne" he says before leaning in and kissing her cheek, his hands moving further downwards to grasp a pert breast and gently knead it.

Maven simply coos, leaning into the kiss and encouraging his ministrations by pressing her chest further into his hand, gasping at how deceptively soft he is with her. "I do hate when you announce yourself like that. You are master of the thieves guild after all. You would think you sawshould be more tactful" she reproaches him, turning her head up to look into his eyes. He simply smiles back, his eyes glaring deeply into hers but the smile is clear in his eyes. "I hide nothing from you mistress" he says simply before leaning in and deftly kissing her lips, his arms, clothed in the leather armor made famous by the guild, soaked by the warm water.

Maven would never tell him this but she nearly always melted at his touch and words. He made her feel….weak and that was not something that the Black Briar matriarch was used to. Let alone in the arms of a man who was half her age. Her own late husband had never been more than a necessity to her ascent to power but Fjolar….he was more than just necessary to her power. She wanted him. By the eight she wanted him. She had never felt like a woman in love until that night.

Golden glow was the start of it. The details were foggy to her, after all it was yesterday's business. Everyone who was involved in it was dead at this point ….except her and those in her employ. She hadn't expected the young Nord to be anything special. He was handsome for sure but nothing more than a pretty face. That was until he returned having completed his task perfectly. She remembered being surprised when he walked into her home and delivered her the bill of sale. She was shocked at first but couldn't help but smile at the arrogant look upon his face. She had quickly decided to offer him a drink, deciding that a toast was more than deserved. He had simply nodded and replied with "yes mistress" when she had practically ordered him to sit with her. One flagon of Mead turned to two and two into three. Before either knew what the other was doing she was leading him by the hand, into her home, shushing him and slapping away his other hand as it pawed at her rear , horrified at the thought of the children hearing her. But within minutes they were in her bed and he was on top of her, his hands caressing and groping parts of her body that she didn't even realize could be sexually pleasing. He was so muscled and toned as well, the very picture of youth.

It wasn't long before she was out of her robes and he his armor, thrusting into her so deeply that she saw Dibella on every thrust. She had to place a hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming as Fjolar made love to her, moving her body around of his own accord to suit the needs of the moment. Maven's past experiences in love making had been quick affairs, the only intent being that of procreation but this? This was raw and primal. She had been afraid when she felt herself cum, almost scared that she had urinated on her lover,never having had an orgasm before. He however kept going, stifling her protests by pressing his lips to hers and slipping his tongue into her mouth. It was hours before they were both satiated, having both finished several times. After a final thrust inside of her, the skilled thief kissed her passionately and rolled onto his side, off of her, before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her tightly to him, the warm blanket enveloping both of them before he fell asleep. She was right behind him, nuzzling comfortably into his chest before her eyes also closed, both in drunken stupor laying.

The real shock to Maven came the next morning when she found herself with a splitting headache, the sun reaching through the windows. Her first thought was that of all days the sun would show in Riften it would of course be the day that she had a hangover. She tried to move, wanting to get up and relieve herself but found that she couldn't. Two muscular arms were wrapped around her lithe waist and she felt the Dragonborn's breath tickle against the nape of her neck. Her first instinct had been to scream but Maven was not a forgetful drunk. No. She remembered the nights events perfectly and she remembered how it felt to be with the thief who was now in her employ. And in her bed it so seemed.

She was desperately careful to not wake her children, ensuring that she carefully moved his arms off of her but not before admiring them. She smiled sadly as she looked down at the young man who had just made love to her. Many thoughts had entered her head but one was prominent. She was no longer young. She was aging and fast. The fall season of her life had now begun while Fjolar was in the very spring of his. In a rare show of affection that she would not dare let anyone see she leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Thank you for making an old woman feel special" she whispers, glad he would never hear it as she turned to walk away. She was stopped however, by a hand grasping her wrist tightly . She turned, angered now at the impudence that was starting to show in her employee. Despite what just happened between them that's what he was. An employee. Before she can begin to demand that he let her go she had been pulled back into the bed and Fjolar laid over her, hands on either side of her head as he held himself up. "You're mine now Maven" he said simply before pressing his lips back to hers and kissing her fiercely. Just as her resistance begins to waver and she leans into the kiss his lips are gone, indeed his whole body is and now she has free range of movement again.

She props herself up on her elbows and looks towards the edge of the bed where Fjolar was putting on his armor. She is unable to say anything as he opens the window, letting in all the light and forcing her to shield her eyes with her hand, wincing at the brightness. But just like that it is gone, the closing of the shutters closing off the light and allowing her to see once more. To her dismay he is also gone, having obviously taken the opportunity to shimmy down the ledges and walls of her home before returning to...whatever he was off to next. Maven didn't have as much control over the guild as she liked to imagine that she did.

It seemed that she was utterly powerless in the face of this specific guild member.

With that though she turned her head into the pillow and screamed, trying to muffle the sound of her aggravation at being outmaneuvered. One would normally think that a kiss wasn't such a big deal. That it would not be a symbol of a lost status or a declining control. After all a man simply kissed her. It wasn't like he replaced her as Jarl or stole all of her gold. It was simple though to Maven. If anyone was to kiss anyone it would be her who initiated it and her who ended it, all of course on her own terms.

Being fully disgruntled as she was she rose from bed and donned a robe, moving out to her bureau to gather up clothes that would befit a jarl , the brown eyes and soft gentle hands still on her mind.

The next months were not any easier for her. Aside from the obvious challenges of rebuilding the Rift following the destruction of the civil war, the roaming bandits, stirred up draugurs and crop failure that had recently played her hold she was still dealing with her turmoil over Fjolar and rather the lack of him being around. It would be easy to regain the balance of power if only she could get her hands on him again. She would reestablish her dominance over that upstart. But only if he would show his damned face.

It was on such a night that she slept in the jarl's palace in place of her own mansion that she got such a wish. Sitting before her bureau and brushing her hair, wearing her red nightdress that highlighted all her curves she heard him enter. She didn't even stop brushing her hair, not wanting him to know just how he had offset her. How had he gotten in with all her extra guards about?

"I was beginning to wonder when you would show your face again thief." She said simply, casting her eyes to the mirror and watching as he leaned back against a wooden support beam. He simply smiled , his eyes moving up and down her body. "You look beautiful in red. But you also look beautiful in blue. And especially in nothing at all" he says before moving closer and closer, his hands going to her shoulders as he takes her brush and begins to comb it's bristles gently through her hair. She can't help but feel her power slipping away from her again before she has even begun to speak to him but...for now...she would allow it. Though not because she enjoyed his attention. In fact she reminded herself that she was very mad at him. So she glared at him through the mirror. "And where have you been off to? It has been two months since I last saw you or any of the guild for that matter" she says, feigning an air of disinterest. He simply smiled and kept brushing her hair. "Well actually I was up near Solitude if you must know" he says stopping his ministrations, which Maven would swear she did not instantly miss, to pull something out of his knapsack.

"I got this for you" he said simply before tossing something around her neck and clasping it quickly, his deft hands showing just how good of a thief he actually was. Maven is not left long to dwell on her thoughts however, as a beautiful shining jewel now hangs within the valley of her breasts, glowing like a golden star. She gasps and reaches for it, holding it in her hands and twisting it this way and that as Fjolar smiles sheepishly. "It was Potema's" he says in way of explanation before his hands move back to her shoulders. "I thought it would like better on you however" he says to a now slack jawed Maven.

She was wearing the famed wolf Queens jewels, that Fjolar had undoubtedly had to dive into some godsforsaken crypt and combat whatever foul darkness must've been there to protect such a treasure. She wasted no time as she turned and threw herself into his arms, smothering his face with kisses as she pushes him into her bed. This time, the love making was much more gentle and in the afterglow Maven rested her head on her lover's chest. "I….I….this is your fault" she says, slightly angry to which he simply quirks his eyebrow and smiles. "What is?" He asks causing her to sigh. "It's just….I am confused" she says simply. "This is the first time I am not in control of something and you….you make me feel...strange" she said, trying to enunciate the words to the best of her ability but failing to adequately explain herself. "I am the jarl of Riften and a woman double your age. Why do you come to my bed? Bestow such a gift on me? You're the dragonborn. Hero of Skyrim. You could even have Elisif if you so wanted. So I ask you why me?"

Fjolar simply blinks and looks back at her, his arms encircling her and pulling her in close, his breath tickling at her nose. "Your ambition" he says simply before he peppers her jaw with kisses and his hands grope at her breast. "No, no answer my questions, then….I am yours" she says, wounding every bit like the vulnerable woman she felt like like inside but if Fjolar were to tease her or insult her in any way because of it she would make him regret it.

He does neither of those things and instead continues to look at her. "You're the only woman who didn't need me. Sure I helped but you didn't need me. You would have made the best out of any situation had the war turned out different or had the guild fallen after Mercer's death. You have your own plans. Desires" he says in way of explanation.

The way he spoke about her, it melted something deep inside her. She knew , instinctively knew, that she could trust him. So she did. She hugged him closely and kissed him deeply, another round of lovemaking sending them off to sleep. The next morning played out like the other a d would play out so much like every other of their meetings. He would leave, kissing her goodbye for weeks or months and would return to give her an extraordinary present. She loved him, not that she would tell him. Not quite yet.

This left her wondering as his hands roamed over her in the bath what he would give her this time? Like a child waiting for Yule she eagerly awaited the next surprise, wanting to reward him as much as possible for such a new gift as she was likely to receive. She rose from the tub, suds and water cascading down her body as she reached for a towel, letting the process drag on as she made a show of drying her legs and breasts for her lover. "What have you brought me this time?" She asks, licking her lips in anticipation of giving him his reward. He smiles and moves towards her, handing her her robe and wrapping it around her shoulders. "This" he says simply as he hands her an amulet. She looks down at it and instantly gasps, her hand going to her mouth. "An amulet of Mara? Fjolar no...are you..?" She says looking agape at him as he smiles sheepishly. "I want you to be my wife Maven"

She looks at him, blinking, assured by his seriousness that he isn't joking. Nervously she begins to pace, feeling the confliction rise up in her body. A voice, wicked little voice, whispers for her to accept. Fall into his arms and kiss him and be his forever. But logic, as always has a say. "But I am double your age Fjolar, double" she says, enunciating the word. "I could give you no children. No heirs. And your reputation, it would be destroyed" her rantings start to go on but he stops her, grabbing her shoulders as he kisses her deeply, his chest against hers before he lets her go, his forehead resting against hers. "I don't care about your age. You are beautiful Maven. And smart. Dedicated. Forceful. And a force to be reckoned with in bed" he says teasingly to which he adds a seat on her rear as a proof. She blushes and turns her head, resting it against his muscles chest as she waits for him to continue. "As for children there are many in Skyrim who need a home. That is if..well of you want more children" he says to which she smiles sadly up at him. "I was never a good mother Fjolar. Look at the three I have. One in prison and well….well the one in prison should be enough"

He simply smiles and kisses her again. "Well maybe it's time for you to try again then love but that doesn't answer my original question. Will you marry me?" He asks to which she bites her lip nervously, knowing that the balance of power would be destroyed if she said yes. But wasn't losing control a risk that was worth it sometimes? What was control if her bed was empty and cold? And she would always have Riften. So what if she gave up her control behind doors? Especially when it was so beneficial to her to do so.

"Maven, I will beg of that's what you want" he says simply to which she looks up and laughs, a genuine laugh filled with mirth and love possibly for the first time in her adult life. "There will be no begging Fjolar. My answer is yes" she says as she wraps her arms around her spom to be husband and licks her lips before leaning into his ear. "Master" she finishes, destroying the balance of power forever.


End file.
